E-Paper
Permanent ban on cards for SIMI as Pune police file three affidavits
The second hearing of the three-member Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (Uapa) tribunal will take place at Savitribai Phule Pune University at 10 am on Saturday
Three affidavits seeking permanent ban on Student’s Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) were submitted by three separate wings of the police department to tribunal on Friday. The hearing of the three-member Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (Uapa) tribunal is in connection with the cases against the banned student outfit SIMI. The committee will also ascertain whether there is sufficient cause to extend a permanent ban on SIMI, as an unlawful association. The first part of the hearing took place on Friday.
The second hearing of the three-member Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (Uapa) tribunal will take place at Savitribai Phule Pune University at 10 am on Saturday.
The submissions before the tribunal were mostly cases related to SIMI’s connection to the 2014 Faraskhana blasts. The three-member tribunal was presided by Justice Mukta Gupta. The three affidavits were submitted by Ganesh Shinde, former deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Pimpri-Chinchwad; Ravindra Pardeshi, anti-terrorism squad (ATS), Pune and Nisar Tamboli, head, special investigation team (SIT). All the three organisations stated that the ban must continue, since cases against the accused belonging to SIMI were undergoing trial in court.
The tribunal had issued a general notice informing the citizens at large and the organisation in question to approach it with any material in support of or against the Centre’s decision to extend the ban on SIMI. The ministry of home affairs on February 21 issued a notification of setting up the tribunal under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The commission had earlier requested that those who want to appear before the tribunal must submit their affidavits before the commission.
Currently, tribunal hearings are being held in states where cases against SIMI have been registered. The February 21 notification constituting the tribunal was issued after the five-year ban on SIMI ended on January 31. The ministry of home affairs in its January 31 notification said it was necessary to declare SIMI as an unlawful association with immediate effect. Activists affiliated to SIMI in Pune stand accused of fomenting communal riots in the city a decade ago. Satyapal Singh, the then Pune police commissioner, had called former SIMI activists for questioning at the Pune police commissionerate during his tenure.
The team comprising Justice Mukta Gupta; Pinky Anand, additional solicitor general; and Sachin Datta, special public counsellor were present during the hearing. Investigating officers remained present as witnesses. The Union home ministry has appointed Manoj Kumar Singh as the inquiry officer, central home ministry and Hiranmay Biswas as the research officer of the ministry at New Delhi for coordination between Maharashtra and the Centre.